My Baby

Today at preschool I brought my camera to try and make up for the six or so months Owen missed this school year.  I discovered that at the end of the year, parents are supposed to create a memory book for their child made up of their art projects, photos and collections from the school year.  Since Owen is lacking in art projects, I am going to try to take a ton of pictures and make up for lost time.  This photo isn't the most artistic or beautiful shot, but I love it.

Sometimes I catch myself looking at Owen and thinking, "when did he get so grown up?"  I'm sure I'll think that a billion times more as he grows up but right now I'm in awe of the changes I've seen over the last few months.  This particular photo illustrates how a mundane, everyday task like washing your hands at the sink seems so amazing to me that now he's mastered it.  3 months ago, I was wiping his hands with baby wipes and now he's marching himself up to the sink, turning on the water, squirting the soap, washing his hands, rinsing his hands and turning off the water.  The only thing I help him with is getting his towel for him but it's only because he can't physically reach it!

Things like complex sentences, potty training and preschool are now part of our daily routine.  Tantrums are bigger and badder than they have ever been.  Emotions like embarrassment and pride are now felt and I recognize them immediately just by looking in his eyes.  Naps are becoming shorter and sometimes not at all.  Bedtime stories are becoming longer with multiple paragraphs per page (Curious George is currently our favorite.)  His preferences for food, toys, activities and pretty much everything else is becoming QUITE clear - especially with his ability to voice his opinion.  I have heard "Mama no talk." twice in the last two days now when I have been telling him things he didn't want to hear.  He loves routine and for things to be the same as the time before...Debi babysat for him last night and it was a nice feeling for me to leave him with someone new knowing that if I forgot to leave clear direction on how things should be, Owen would let her know.  This turned out to be true when I returned home after Owen was in bed and Debi told me she left his bedroom door cracked after she put him down and he called her back up to remind her to close it.  He is now directing us in the car which way to drive to certain places (the park, the trains, cookies at coffee houses and the street where all the speed bumps are near our house.)  When he wakes up in the morning or after nap, instead of crying we hear him calling our names.  This is just a sampling of things that were not happening even three months ago and now are just routine. 

Because he's growing up so fast, I have been hanging on to all the things that make him seem younger.  Especially his Owenese vocabulary.  Here are some of the things he's still saying that make me smile every time I hear them.

• Hebbey-tot-ter (helicopter)
• Pupcake (cupcake)
• Muffin Man (play-doh)
• Ah-choo (kleenex)
• Crunchy (carrot)
• Alligator (elevator)
• BeeBeeBean (well, he used to call his bunny BeeBean, but he changed it to Bunny a long time ago - I've since convinced him that Bunny's name is now BeeBean, so it's come back but he is now calling him BeeBeeBean.)
• Back-up Bunny (the name of the extra Bunny we have that we use when BeeBeeBean is in the wash or accidentally left in Dad's car.)
• Ding-Ding (railroad crossing)
• Captain Dinosaur (Captain Feathersword on The Wiggles)

Stop growing up so fast, Owen...it's killing me.